Giro 2018 Route stage 3: Be’er Sheva (isr) - Eilat (isr)

Sunday, 6 May 2018 - Following the time trial on day one and the race to Tel Aviv on the second day of action, the 3nd stage of the Giro d'Italia is another road stage. At 229 kilometres, the race will be long and exhausting as the route runs through the hot and arid Negev desert.

The desert begins Be’er Sheva in the north and runs all the way to the resort city of Eilat at its southern end. So the race basically covers the whole Negev. Eilat is located on the Red Sea.

The route starts at an altitude of 295 metres and peaks, almost 80 kilometres into the race, at 840 metres. No steep climbs though, the course features quite a lot of false flat, although last 50 kilometres are fairly straightforward – flat.

The Negev desert is arid and the temperature in May is around 26 degrees Celsius. The expected rainfall is next to nothing.

Fernando Gaviria was the best sprinter in the 2017 Giro d’Italia, powering to four stage wins.